גריי מאטר א, הלכות שבת, חליבה בשבת א׳Gray Matter I, Laws of Shabbat, Milking Cows on Shabbat 1
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1Using a Non-Jew and Milking to Waste
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2Observant dairy farmers face the challenge of how to milk animals on Shabbat. The next three chapters review the solutions to this problem through the most recent developments. Some of this section is based on the writings of Rav Shmuel David in his Sh'eilot Ut'shuvot Meirosh Tzurim.
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3Source of the Prohibition
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4The Gemara (Shabbat 95a) states, "Choleiv chayav mishum mefareik" ("Milking is a violation of the prohibition of mefareik, removal"). One who milks a cow removes a liquid from its natural place of origin,1See Encyclopedia Talmudit (7:738) for a lengthier definition of mefareik. which constitutes a toladah (derivative prohibition) of dash (threshing - i.e., removing the kernel of grain from the stalk).2There are thirty-nine basic categories of prohibited work on Shabbat (avot melachah). Other acts are biblically prohibited because of the similarity between them and one of the thirty-nine categories. These are called toladot; see Bava Kama 2a.
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5Most Rishonim understand that the Gemara's use of the term chayav clearly indicates that mefareik is a biblical prohibition. A minority view, held most notably by the Rashba (Shabbat 95a s.v. Choleiv), believes that milking is merely a rabbinical prohibition.3This view is based on the Talmud Yerushalmi (Shabbat 7:2).
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6The Gemara (Shabbat 75a) records a dispute about the scope of mefareik. The Chachamim (most sages) only apply dash (from which mefareik is derived) to gidulei karka (items that grow from the ground), while Rabi Yehudah applies it to other things, too. The Rashba argues that the majority opinion on Shabbat 75a believes that the prohibition of dash only applies to gidulei karka. Therefore, since animals do not grow from the ground, milking them cannot constitute a biblical prohibition.
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7Most Rishonim reject the Rashba's view for one of three reasons. Some argue that the Halachah follows the view of Rabbi Yehudah (Shabbat 75a) that dash applies even to items that do not grow from the ground (see Tosafot, Shabbat 95a s.v. Hacholeiv). Alternatively, some argue that animals such as cows are considered gidulei karka, since they are nourished by items that grow from the ground.4See the aforementioned passage in the Rashba, Tosafot (Ketubot 60a s.v. Mefareik), and Maggid Mishnah (Hilchot Shabbat 8:7). Some Rishonim accept neither of these claims, yet they forbid milking for other reasons. For example, Rabbeinu Tam5Tosafot, Shabbat 73b s.v. Mefareik; also see the aforementioned passage in the Rashba. claims that milking on Shabbat constitutes memacheik (smoothing) of the udder.
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8Rav Ben-Zion Uzziel (Teshuvot Mishptei Uzziel, Orach Chaim 10) sought to rely on the minority view of Rishonim that milking is merely a rabbinic prohibition and thus permit milking cows in an unusual manner.6See Ketubot 60a. Regarding the general concept of shinui (violating Shabbat in an unusual manner), see the introduction to the Eglei Tal, section 3. However, almost no modern-day authorities adopt this approach. Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook (Teshuvot Orach Mishpat 64) represents the predominant view on this topic when he writes:
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9It is extremely difficult to base a leniency in contradiction to the majority opinion of Rishonim who believe milking to be a biblical prohibition.... These authorities include the Rif, Rabbeinu Chananel, Rabbeinu Tam, the Or Zarua, and a simple reading of Rashi and Tosafot, and this is also explicit in the Rambam.... It is impossible to permit a Jew to violate what most Rishonim view as a biblical prohibition.
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10Maharam of Rothenburg - Milking by a Non-Jew
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11As Rav Kook intimates, it is permissible to ask a non-Jew to milk a cow on Shabbat to avoid causing the cow pain and suffering (tza'ar ba'alei chaim).7Modern dairy farms use cows that produce large volumes of milk daily and suffer greatly unless they are milked two or three times a day. The source of this leniency is a ruling of the Maharam of Rothenburg (cited by the Rosh, Shabbat 18:3), based on a comment of the Gemara (Shabbat 128b). The Gemara permits supporting an animal with pillows and blankets if it falls into a water channel on Shabbat. Doing so entails violating a rabbinical prohibition,8Placing a pillow underneath an animal renders the pillow muktzah, as the pillow serves as a base for an animal, and animals are muktzah (basis ledavar ha'asur). Making a non-muktzah item muktzah (mevateil keli meiheichano) is rabbinically prohibited because it resembles soteir, destroying a utensil. In this case, the utensil is not physically destroyed, but it is rendered unusable for the remainder of Shabbat. See Rashi, Shabbat 128b s.v. Veha. yet it is permitted to alleviate an animal's suffering. The biblical imperative to alleviate an animal's pain supersedes the rabbinical prohibition. Similarly, reasons the Maharam of Rothenburg, one may set aside the rabbinical prohibition of amirah lenochri (asking a non-Jew to violate Shabbat) to alleviate the pain of a cow that needs to be milked. The Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 305:20) rules in accordance with the view of the Maharam of Rothenburg.9In practice, some possible restrictions are involved when employing a non-Jew to milk on Shabbat. The Korban Netaneil (Shabbat 18:70), commenting on the Maharam's leniency, lists these restrictions. First, the milk may not be used until the next day, as Chazal forbade using liquids squeezed on Shabbat until after Shabbat ends. (Chazal worried that using freshly squeezed liquids, or juice that leaked from a fruit, would cause people to violate Shabbat by squeezing more; see Beitzah 3a.) Additionally, milk squeezed on Shabbat by a non-Jew must be given to the non-Jew. If the Jewish owner would keep the milk, it would appear as if the non-Jew violated Shabbat for the Jew's personal benefit, whereas we only permit him to violate Shabbat for the animal's sake. If the Jewish owner wants the milk, he must buy it from the non-Jew (although he may pay a heavily discounted price; see Biur Halachah 305 s.v. Bedavar.) While the Korban Netaneil cites all of these restrictions, they are not all universally accepted. See Shulchan Aruch (O.C. 305:20) and the Mishnah Berurah's comments thereupon.
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12Twentieth-Century Israel
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13In modern times, Rav Kook endorses following the Shulchan Aruch's ruling and hiring a non-Jew to milk cows on Shabbat. Rav Kook opposes seeking a way to enable Jews to milk the cows for fear that Jews present in the barn would inevitably come to violate Shabbat. Even if the milking could be done in a permissible manner, other ancillary problems to the milking frequently arise, such as fixing broken pipes and machinery. In a similar vein, Rav Shmuel David (Techumin 7:17) notes that one's very presence in a barn on Shabbat leads to very serious problems, such as helping an animal give birth and the status of farm animals as muktzah.10Rav David addresses these issues at length in his book, Sh'eilot U'tshuvot Meirosh Tzurim, which discusses halachic life at Kibbutz Rosh Tzurim, Israel.
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14However, non-Jewish labor was not a practical option in the earlier part of last century.11Interestingly, there was one early Jewish settlement, Nevei Yaakov, that employed Arabs to milk cows on Shabbat. For a description of how this was done, see Birurim Behilchot Hare'iyah, pp. 315-317. It seems that Arab farm workers brought diseases from their animals to the Jewish-owned animals. The reason for this was the primitive state of veterinary care at Arab farms. Thus, Jews needed an alternative solution for milking on Shabbat.
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15Milking to Waste - Chazon Ish and Rav Kook
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16A different way to permit milking on Shabbat is chalivah le'ibud, letting the milk go to waste by milking into a drain. This approach is based on Rashi's comment (Shabbat 145a s.v. Legufo) that milking a cow or squeezing a fruit le'ibud is not defined as an act of mefareik and is therefore permitted. Although many Rishonim agree with this assertion, some believe that milking to waste is rabbinically prohibited (see Tosafot, Ketubot 6a s.v. Hai), and the Eglei Tal (dash, subsection 27) accepts their strict view. Rav Kook (ibid.), while writing that one should not rebuke those who follow the lenient view, expresses serious reservations about relying on the authorities who permit milking to waste. He goes so far as to state that no respected Torah scholar could ever endorse milking to waste, as it contradicts the stringent view of many Rishonim. The Chazon Ish (Hilchot Shabbat 56:4), however, rules that if one is unable to hire a non-Jew to milk on Shabbat, he may rely on the opinion of Rashi that milking to waste does not constitute mefareik.